I'm very blessed to live in California where we can bop down to our local farmer's market of a Saturday morning and pick up amazing, amazing flowers - for cheap! The ones on my writing desk (AKA the kitchen table) are lisianthus, and the ones on the bookshelf are delphinium. They're so vibrantly blue and ostentatious, I love 'em. The lisianthus are delicate in hue and form and definitely live up to their Victorian reputation for "calming".

Myths, symbols & folklore
The language of flowers, part seven:

"Especially in the early 19th century, it was not unusual to express difficult messages by means of flower arrangements. A playful flower-symbology had first emerged toward the end of the 18th century, and it was revived a century later. In 1899 G.W. Gessmann wrote that he hoped his guide to this Blumensprache would 'remind especially our gracious ladies of this most sensible custom.' "

Sorrel blossom: "I do not like knowing that you are always following me"
Spurge: "Your nature is so cold that one might think your heart is made of stone"
Sunflower: "It turns ever toward the sun. As sunlight is to it, so is your love to my life."
Thistles: "The poetry of life sweeps over you, leaving no trace"
Thyme: "Unity of souls is the greatest good"
Tulip: "You silent thing of splendor! Where is your inner value?"
Turk's cap: "Will your stirring, roguish glances do much more mischief?"
Vetch flowers: "To be envied are all to whom heaven gives the pearl 'loving friendship'"
Vine leaves: "With your recurring merriment you can restore my high spirits"
Weeping willow: "My heart trembles with the memory of your vanished presence"
Willow: "True friendship presents its arm to us, that we might take it as we walk and bear life's burden"
Yarrow: "Are you in fact as unaware as you would seem?"
(Biedermann)

Myths, symbols & folklore
The language of flowers, part five:

Mullein (yellow): "Take courage. Fortune yet will bloom for you"
Myrtle-shoot: "It is ever green, for the wreaths that true love weaves never wilt"
Narcissus (yellow): Your being, flirtatious, enraptured, is like thi beautiful flower, which arises proudly, only to sink its head in yearning"; also, "Frightful! Would you destroy me completely?"
Nasturtium: "How shall I suffer, when the prospect of seeing you no longer fills my spirit with joyful hope!"
Oak leaves: "The crown of morality and virtue"
Oleander: "In you jealousy and pomp reign, for nature gave you not a warm feeling heart but only outer beauty"
Onion flower: "You an win my love if you show me the tender respect that a gentleman must feel for a feminine creature"
Passionflower: "Your bitter pain will be transfigured in the afterlife by the crown of eternal bliss"
Peony: "Your pride is unbearable"
Peppermint: "Of false hearts, like yours, I can find a surfeit"; also, "Why make so much fuss over trifles?"
(Biedermann)

Myths, symbols & folklore
The language of flowers, part four:

Laurel leaf: "The victor's wreath befits you not, but the modest wreath of virtue"
Lavender: "The memory of you is my only quiet joy"; also, "Your speech is puzzling"
Lilac: "In your every look and word speaks the beauty of your soul."; also, "Let us hurry to the altar, before our youth has passed!"
Lily (white): "You are as innocent as this symbol of innocence"
Linden blossom: "Sensual love vanishes like the nigh-dew; love from the soul abides like the golden star of day"
Lupine: "In you I found heavenly charms and splendrous blossoms of the spirit combined with those of the heart"
Marigold: "As eternal as the golden ring of his flower, is the purity of my love"
Meadow saffron: "My heart is kindled by love for you, and I gladly follow the divine emotion"
Mignonette: "Like this flower, quietly fragrant, without the pomp of color, you have pleasing talents without outward show"
Mimosa: "The great and beautiful soul that you contain is grounded in your noble, serious pride"
(Biedermann)

Myths, symbols & folklore
The language of flowers, part three:

"Especially in the early 19th century, it was not unusual to express difficult messages by means of flower arrangements. A playful flower-symbology had first emerged toward the end of the 18th century, and it was revived a century later. In 1899 G.W. Gessmann wrote that he hoped his guide to this Blumensprache would 'remind especially our gracious ladies of this most sensible custom.' "


Dead-nettle: "Your promises of love leave me cold; your promising and gallantry ring hollow"
Field clover: "Let me know when I can see you again"
Forest-rose: "One who is born for quiet happiness, finds contentment only in obscurity"
Forget-me-not: "Three words reveal he wish to meet again: Forget me not!"; also, "Give heed to what this little flower whispers"
Garlic-blossom: "What I feel for you is the utmost indifference"
Grain (ear of): "What you ask, only time can bestow."
Guelder-rose: "However unfeeling you pretend to be, Cupid's arrow one day yet will reach you."
Hazelnut blossom: "Fear not: innocent love is under God's protection"
Hyacinth (white): "My heart draws me to you, pale dreamer"
Iris: "You fill my heart with joyful hope, only then to plunge it into doubt"
Iris (blue): "Your feigned emotions scatter, and no trace of them remains
(Biedermann)

Myths, symbols & folklore
The language of flowers, part two: "Especially in the early 19th century, it was not unusual to express difficult messages by means of flower arrangements. A playful flower-symbology had first emerged toward the end of the 18th century, and it was revived a century later. In 1899 G.W. Gessmann wrote that he hoped his guide to this Blumensprache would 'remind especially our gracious ladies of this most sensible custom.' "

Centaury: "It is bitter like the truth once told, but just as healing"
Cherry blossom: "My blush at your arrival may reveal to you the quiet fondness that I have for you"
Chive blossom: "I shall follow your sincere good advice"
Clover (four-leaf): "Fortune smiles upon me only when I can share it with you"
Corncockle: "I live for you alone"
Cotton blossom: "The blossoms of our union are yet tender; thus do I tend them with careful love"
Cowslip: "The key to my heaven lies in your angelic heart"
Cuckoopint: "Though life assail you, despair not! The knowledge that you are good and pure will exalt you."
Cyclamen: "With purest inclination I respect you above all else."
Dahlia: My heart is eternally with you; the heart is a thing of the homeland, not of the body."
(Biedermann)

Myths, symbols & folklore
The language of flowers, part one: "Especially in the early 19th century, it was not unusual to express difficult messages by means of flower arrangements. A playful flower-symbology had first emerged toward the end of the 18th century, and it was revived a century later. In 1899 G.W. Gessmann wrote that he hoped his guide to this Blumensprache would 'remind especially our gracious ladies of this most sensible custom.' "

acacia (white): "Your good heart assures me that our friendship will last."
Agave: "I remain favorably disposed to you despite your knavery."
Amaryllis (red): "I respect you from the depths of my soul."
Apple blossom: "Will the glow of love finally redden your delicate cheeks?"
Asphodel: "I expect letters numerous and heartfelt."
Aster (white): "Your true friendship lessens the torment of my misfortune."
Bindweed: "No gaze in the world is so keen, so deep, as the hawk's eye of love."
Bur: "Be assured of my sympathetic attachment and sincerest wish to be of aid."
Carnation (red): "You will be able to resist no longer, once you see the extent of my esteem and love."; also, "My bosom thrills in the rapture of longing"
Carnation (white): "You are the symbol of the closest friendship, for your color remains unchanged until death strips away your petals."
(Biedermann)